Microsoft researchers make me cry
It’s not often that I see software that really changes my world. It’s even rarer that I see software that I know will change the world my sons live in. I can count those times pretty easily. The first time I saw an Apple II in 1977. When Richard Cameron showed me Apple’s Hypercard. Microsoft’s Excel. Aldus’ Pagemaker. And something called Photoshop, all in his West Valley Community College classroom. Later when I saw Marc Andreessen’s Netscape running the WWW. ICQ and Netmeeting which laid the ground for Skype.
Like I said, these things don’t happen often.
Yesterday was one of those days. Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay, researchers at Microsoft, fired up their machines and showed me something that I can’t tell you about until February 27th. I’m sure you’ll read about his work in the New York Times or TechCrunch, among other places. It’s too inspiring to stay a secret for long.
While watching the demo I realized the way I look at the world was about to change. While listening to Wong I noticed a tear running down my face. It’s been a long while since Microsoft did something that had an emotional impact on me like that.
Why torment you with a post like this? Because it’s my way of making sure that stuff that really is extraordinary gets paid attention to. And because I wanted to get down the emotional impact of what I saw before that feeling totally wears off. I also wanted to get down some lessons that others at Microsoft might learn from so that they can have this kind of impact in their own work. Imagine if Microsoft did 10 things a year like what Curtis and Jonathan showed me yesterday? If the innovation engine at Microsoft were working that well there wouldn’t be any pressure to buy Yahoo. Heck, and if there were a constant stream of stuff like what I saw yesterday Yahoo wouldn’t be resisting going to Microsoft. They’d +want+ to go to Microsoft. Yesterday is the first time since leaving that I wish I were back working at Microsoft.
Now, I can hear Christopher Coulter in my head. The thing these two guys did won’t have a business impact the way, say, Microsoft Office did. There isn’t a business model here. But does every damn thing need a business model? Does a scientific paper that changes the world need a business model? Does it need more audience than just the other 50 scientists in the world who care about that topic? No.
But back to that tear.
Note that it wasn’t a team of 100 people who did it. Two guys with a supporting cast of maybe a dozen. I’ve noticed a trend at Microsoft: that the coolest stuff is done by small teams without a ton of resources. Down the hall from Wong and Fay was researcher Andy Wilson. When I walked into his lab he was working on another cool surface computing technology for Microsoft’s upcoming Tech Fest (which happens March 4). He, and another researcher, were playing with a cool round screen. You might know of Andy’s work: it was his research and demos that convinced Microsoft to build the Surface device which you touch with your hands.
No need for big teams. I never sense a lot of bureaucracy or politics in either of these two guys’ offices.
Back to Wong and Fay’s work.
Could they have done this at a Silicon Valley startup? I doubt it. Venture Capitalists won’t see enough business value in what they are doing. Plus they would need to build a team around them, work out a business plan. Invest their own capital and time building a prototype so that people “get it.” If I told you today what they were doing, without showing you the video we’ll have up on March 3, you’d tell me “that’s lame Scoble.” But when you see it face-to-face everyone I know who’s seen it say they’ve had an emotional reaction to it. Buzz Bruggeman, CEO of ActiveWords, was the first to tell me about it and said it was the best thing he’s seen in years from Microsoft.
Maybe it could be done, but they’ve been traveling all over the world working with researchers from other institutions and getting data for their new thing. It’s a lot easier to get access when you say “I’m a researcher at Microsoft” than when you say “I’m building a startup.”
Other lessons? Keep up to date on the latest things happening in your industry. In Wong and Fey’s work you’ll see techniques that lots of startups are using and, even, that the Google Map team is using. This isn’t stuff that was possible in 1995 so it requires 2008-style Web services and data centers.
Anyway, I’m getting all geeky on you (today Rocky and I are heading to Amazon to talk with Jeff Barr of the team that built its S3 and EC2 services, among others, so that’s probably why I’m ramping up my geek level) but that shouldn’t take away that these two guys got me to cry yesterday.
And that was a good thing. Two guys working inside a big company still can change the world. Can’t wait to talk more about what they’ve done. They’ll have a bunch of press on February 27 and our video will be up on FastCompany.tv on March 3.
UPDATE: I’ve updated this post with a few additions here.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I love Microsoft and I’d love them much more if they start making a bunch cool products like Google.Any insight on the product? Mar 3 looks far for me :)
February 14th, 2008 at 9:12 am
[...] Microsoft researchers make me cry « Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Lakshmi: I can’t give hints, sorry. They swore me to secrecy.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Sorry but I had the image of William Hurt in Broadcast News when I read about the tear running down your cheek. :-)
February 14th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Th goal of your post is achieved.
I’m happy to see that the big MS can let people work on cool stuff. It would be interesant to know if is an exception or if there are many projects like this one at Microsoft.
Small teams is the best way to go ;-)
February 14th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Can’t wait to see/hear/read about this… whatever it is :) Hey, that’ll get awfully close to Apple’s iPhone SDK deadline too… hm.
I love to hear about small teams or even an evangelist within one large co. making amazing things. I love it more when those things are productized without the sould being ripped away from them (ala Golden Compass).
February 14th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Now I’m very curious. Been lots of tech toys lately making things fun and interesting.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Robert…
…congrats on the tech peak experience…
I experienced it once…I was a “temp” for the “thinker” at Lockheed Martin corporate headquarters in Bethesda, MD. A new beta test product called “Netscape” arrived and they wanted us to look at it. As the thinker invested corporate money 5 years out, he was too busy so he tossed it to me.
I installed it and sat transfixed for 3 days as the world opened in living color on the screen.
At the time, I was typing 3 lines of difficult code into “Sailor” the Maryland library online network for online access in dreary, black and white letters.
Then I found out Brown & Co. was the IPO agent. I called to invest in Netscape. The broker laughed and me and asked if I was a “serious” investor. I said, “Serious as a heart attack.” He replied, “No…I mean can you raise $400,000 cash in 15 minutes if I need you to.”
Needless to say, I was not able to invest in the Netscape IPO…but I did have the thrill of seeing the wonder of it months before it launched.
Not often those centers in the brain blaze…writing poetry, picking up a newborn, finding love…but they’re grand when they happen. Glad to hear you found such a moment.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Funny you should say that Robert, Microsoft products tend to make me cry……..with rage - generally about 3 or 4 times a day.
Windows XP - takes ages to start up and shut down
Outlook - takes years to start up and stabilise, tends to crash about twice a day
Word - annoys me generally
I don’t use IE as it’s a total piece of junk but I guess I get along with Windows Live Messenger and Excel OK, but it doesn’t make me emotional.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:39 am
I’m guessing it’s something to do with healthcare or children.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Let’s call it “IT”. Maybe it will be “as big a deal as the PC” and cities will be built around it. I just hope it ends up being better than a scooter.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:56 am
hitting google we get this description of the research group that these guys belong to:
“Microsoft Next Media Research group focuses on exploring what new consumer media experiences are possible with the growth in computing power, connectivity and storage in a compelling, elegant and transparent way in the 3 to 10 year timeframe. The group envisions consumer information and entertainment experiences not available today and builds or combines technologies from other Microsoft Research groups and crafts intuitive user interfaces and compelling scenarios to deliver that experience. Rather than focus on old media or new media, the group attempts to develop working prototypes of the Next forms of media possible from new convergent technologies, hence the name.”
February 14th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Reminds me of the lead up to Origami. That flamed out. Hopefully, this will be better.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:58 am
You talking about the 1993 World Wide Telescope Project? Jonathan Fay is an expert in astronomical imaging.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:02 am
[...] http://scobleizer.com/2008/02/14/microsoft-researchers-make-me-cry/ Posted: feb 14 2008, 06:00 by thomas.martinsen | with no comments Filed under: MS, Scobleizer [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 10:03 am
this is a link where two guys present together last year http://www.tmspa.com/Speakers_Talks.html
How you can use the WorldWide Telescope”
Jonathan Fay
The WorldWide Telescope project will open up astronomy education and exploration like never before. Jonathan Fay, a Principal Research Software Engineer on the project, will discuss how you can use the WorldWide telescope to explore, create and share educational narratives and even register your own astronomical images so they can be viewed in the context of the virtual sky. An interactive demo of the WWT Virtual Sky and authoring tools will be presented. There will also be a discussion of the technical challenges involved in bringing together the data necessary to open up the universe over the Internet.
Are we talking about astro-browser? I hope not.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I wonder if it has anything to do with Computational Photography, such as my latest effort here in Chicago…
http://flickr.com/photos/–mike–/2264482503/
It’s supposed to be a jaw dropping photo showing the Chicago Cultural Center in perfect clarity, with the trees that obscure it blurred away… but… the focus is wrong… oops. Those 100meter frames of virtual film are so touchy about focus ;-)
After your interview with Mark Levoy in PodTech, I got very interested in experimenting with my camera as a sensor, and learning more about lightfields.
I hope some day to be able to automatically generate a 3d model of things, like the folks at Microsofts have been doing, but with open source tools.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Robert,
Given that the researchers are part of the “Next Media” group at Microsoft, it wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve come up with something earth-shattering that’s related to way people commune with their media. They work with concepts for broadcast and museums, so their work could offer endless educational possibilities; which is what I hope it is. I also agree with “Andre” in that statement.
I look forward to what they’re doing. They have many impressive projects coming out of there and beat many competitors to the punch - they just don’t market them all! Sadly, sometimes…
February 14th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Googling the two names seems to offer some support to Gaspar’s comment. If so, I look forward to seeing what they’ve done. I reserve the right not to shed tears though. You bally Yanks are far too emotional anyway…
February 14th, 2008 at 10:10 am
A master of link bait you are. When you are a business and spending your shareholders money, YES everything has to have a business model. Given your track record of predicting the next big thing few of us will be holding our breath
February 14th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Also a further hint here: http://blog.isabelhilborn.com/2007/05/more_open_video.html
Hopefully we are wrong and it is something a bit more exciting.
…the truth is out there…
February 14th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Ah, the magic that takes place in Building 99..
;)
February 14th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Yawn.
Change the world. Yea right.
Remember the hype around Segue - Jobs and Bezos said it would revolutionize urban humanity.
Whatever.
C’mon robert, you have been out of the Redmond reality distortion field long enough not to fall for this stuff. It might be cool, but I can go to Ford’s ‘research’ department and see 1000hp sports car probably…doubt I will ever be able to buy one from them though.
We shall see if:
1) This really is that cool
2) It can be either its own standalone product or incorporated into an existing product in a meaningful way
3) That it can be released/incorporated within say 5 years.
Otherwise, while it may be cool, it may not matter.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:43 am
The things you saw were probably independent of Windows or any of their other poorly-managed products that have sent many of us to Open Source, Apple and Google for relief.
Recently, Apple’s recent products and Amazon Web Services made me cry with happiness.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:46 am
[...] A must-read dramatic post. More here. [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I can’t say I’m fond of posts like this. I can appreciate your sense of awe and eagerness to share it, but it provides zero value to me as a reader. You might as well have posted this in a foreign language and I’d have gotten the same value out of this post. Keep me posted when the news breaks and you can actually talk to the source of your excitement.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Robert, have you not given away the secret by saying “on another cool surface computing technology”
its not their table PC thing by any chance is it?
February 14th, 2008 at 11:07 am
It’s a program that collects all the YouTube videos of John Edwards campaign speeches and automatically edits them to old Journey ballads.
Scoble would eat that right up.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I’ve seen it and Scoble is not even being hyperbolic in how good this application is. Gaspar is onto something, is all I will say. Jonathan Fay is genius.
BTW I’ve seen Googlers faces drop seeing this. You do have to be a geek to appreciate it, and it will have immense educational AND research value.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Joe: no, this isn’t hardware I’m talking about.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Rahul: I can tell you’ve seen it. That’s the reaction everyone who has seen it has had so far.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I don’t know if this has anything to do with what Robert is talking about, but its interesting to note Wong and Fay worked on this:
The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) project is designed to be an extensible learning and exploration environment which integrates hyperlinked rich media narrative with a seamless multiple survey virtual sky to enable guided and unguided exploration of the universe.
http://www.tmspa.com/Speakers_Talks.html
February 14th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Jim: no value? Maybe that’s true but now you’ll pay attention to Microsoft on February 27th. It’s worth doing so.
February 14th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Ok is it me or does:
“When I walked into his lab he was working on another cool surface computing technology ” have duel meaning?
Either a) Wong and Fay is working on cool surface technology
or b) Andy Wilsonor is just another group doing surface computing tech in parallel with the Surface main group.
Curtis Wong is manager of the Microsoft Next Media Research Group, whose focus “spans the linear and interactive media spectrum from television, broadband, ..
Adobe’s bringing out AIR by the end of the month. Mozilla’s Prism is beating out there too. Microsoft will need to counter, and this might be it, some Silverlight related info. If it ain’t a phone, then TV and media related. That’s both of their areas. Surely the Olympics involvement isn’t just a generous offer - it’s a play to get beyond the XBox medica centre, and get people onto a Microsoft (Vista enhanced perhaps) entertainment package.
Or it could be something completely different… (or tangential to the MediaBrowser papers/photo=-triage for all media)
I think some of what was in the keynote might roll out soon- they’re going to push it. I’d imagine the video clip eye candy is nearly ready. That or Gates’ “last keynote” really was that lame (bindings on the board upside down, and a silly recycled demo of Surface tech anyone?)
Maybe it’s to push collections and search to replace heirarchy.
Of note - why is it that on the Microsoft site, Wong, the primary contact doesn’t have a link through on details like the rest of his team? (Jonathan (no h) Fay is also absent of details) http://research.microsoft.com/nextmedia/ ?
February 14th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
My bet is IE8 :-)).
February 14th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
i remember the last time Microsoft made me cry. it was when it drove my hard drive into the ground. If they were planning on doing 10 or so of these “great” things every year, they’d be out of ideas by the first one. How many of you reading this wants to set up a betting pool on how much this brand new shite necrosoft’s got is going suck harder than an open door on a space shuttle?
February 14th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
XBAPs that run on Mac & Linux as well?
One can only hope & dream, I suppose.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I think it’s a new handheld device called the “Man Bag.” That would bring tears to anyone’s eyes….
February 14th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
It’s gotta be MS-DOS 20, right? Do I win a prize?
February 14th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
i was going to go with something called the “spreadsheet,” which would kick ass, but i am deferring to my other idea — a virtual universe / solar system map (think: skies not streets).
baby, you’re a star.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I think it’s a new Zune… with a limited edition Halo/Vista color scheme… CAN’T WAIT FOR 2/27!!!
February 14th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Just out of curiosity (How could IE 8 gives tears of joy) did anything come of
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=14275
Scoble?
February 14th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
The problem isn’t that Microsoft employees don’t innovate…the problem is that the suits don’t see the value. Hence the huge flood of former Microsofties to other companies and startups.
can’t wait to see what it is
February 14th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Microsoft makes me cry everyday. I too think this is world wide telescope related. The WWT is educational, useful in research, and does not have a business model.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
One of my best times I had was working at Microsoft on a skunk works project with a rag-tag team of 6-7. Turned out our IHPC was the future while a huge team worked on what the business people thought was the future. (Codename Iceberg or something like that)
No tears but definately stars in my eyes looking forward to this announcement.
Bill
February 14th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Would it be Vista Service Pack 1a?
February 14th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
It’s Microsoft Universe. And through it you can see the face of God. Funny, though, He looks more like Steve Jobs than Bill Gates.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
[...] and the individual programmer interesting, and Scoble makes another foray with his post today on why Microsoft makes him cry (I cry over Microsoft, too, but it’s usually things like [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I worry about you, Robert, when you’re at your new job, what a week? And here you are, sending a Valentine to your old job. I feel like you should focus on your new job.
BTW, I just got an offer to get the magazine for only $5. Is that from your Facebook scrape? I don’t mind, it’s cool, just wondering.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
It was two researchers (actually classical musicians) working in a closet who created the first color slide film. It turned out they were leagues ahead of the work being done by the corporate giant, Kodak. So Kodak did the logical thing and hired them. The result was Kodachrome. It ruled the world of color film for decades. Maybe your guys have pulled off something similar.
February 14th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
With a quick look at Mr Scoble, My guess is that it was a Reuben sandwich.
February 14th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
[...] …..and the blogosphere now holds it’s breath until Feb 27th as apparently two guys working inside a big company still can change the world. [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Yikes, so now I am supposed to make Robert cry? That’s a pretty tall order but I’ll see what I can do. Perhaps I can get some raw onions from our cafeteria ;-).
February 14th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Twinkie replicator add-on for Vista? Big guy… food remark… see what I did there? *squints at you while walking away*
February 14th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
OK, Robert, I’ll bite…
I have two questions that you may or may not be able to answer at this point in time:
1) Is it going to be a free offering?
2) Is it going to be available to the general public?
February 14th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Hi Robert,
Just seen Microsoft is trying to Trademark the word “SenseCam”. This was a wearable memory capture camera I worked on before I left Microsoft Research to set up my new company. Customers want to buy SenseCam. Lyndsay Williams http://www.girtonlabs.com
February 14th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
[...] The Scobleizer is fresh from a tour of the latest Microsoft building and was shown software that was “world changing”. He goes on to say that this type of work can only be done within big companies. Surely not? It happens in the Cambridge Cluster all the time but you might need great VCs to launch it! [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
[...] oggi scrive: Note that it wasn’t a team of 100 people who did it. Two guys with a supporting cast of maybe a [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I get the warm tingly feeling from Ken Hinckley’s InkSeine - another gift from Microsoft Research.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
[...] the blogosphere now holds it’s breath until Feb 27th as apparently two guys working inside a big company still can change the world. "Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay, researchers at Microsoft, fired up their machines and showed me [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Uh, I’m not particularly excited… :-/ Microsoft has never impressed me with pretty much any software. When Windows 95 was released, Mac OS was already pretty mature for the time, and so on. Sure, it’ll be interesting if they’ve actually achieved something cool for once, but I can assure you tears won’t run down my face as they have never done so far hw or sw before. Jeez. :-p
February 14th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
And no, if it’s about the WorldWide Telescope, I’m already damn impressed by the free tool Celestia, recently released in version 1.5. Our part of the galaxy at your fingertips already.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
That’s a lot of words on nothing. It’s getting harder for you to pour from the empty into the void, Scoble.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
I sense that it is going to involve some sort of distributed computing. I recall reading something about this last year… it sounded pretty amazing, and is the only thing that I can think that would take 2008 technology to pull off properly.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
[...] Read his post here. [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Dollars to donuts whatever it is will require that you be a user of some other Microsoft product, Windows, IE, Silverlight, that is, unless the product itself costs $400 or so.
February 14th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Great that you got this part of the story down first. This is the wonder and amazement that drives many people like me to work at innovative companies. Possibilities and seeing how innovations can really change how we live. Thanks for sharing. Bravo, Robert!
February 14th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Point of no return.
Once you hate M$ you never use any of their products again.
As #52 said, I won’t pay for that and I won’t install silvershit to run M$ crap.
If they find the cure for cancer, I’ll happily die smoking my lungs off till they’re charcoal instead of giving my money to them.
So, fuck em!
February 14th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
[...] Microsoft researchers make me cry « Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger It’s not often that I see software that really changes my world. It’s even rarer that I see software that I know will change the world my sons live in. I can count those times pretty easily. The first time I saw an Apple II in 1977. When Richard Cameron showed me Apple’s Hypercard. Microsoft’s Excel. Aldus’ Pagemaker. And something called Photoshop, all in his West Valley Community College classroom. Later when I saw Marc Andreessen’s Netscape running the http://WWW. ICQ and Netmeeting which laid the ground for Skype. [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
[...] Proving perhaps you can break an embargo without breaking an embargo, uberblogger Robert Scoble writes about an amazing Microsoft product that makes him cry. [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
GroupShot V.2? Scoble is a huge photography fan!
February 14th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Robert,
Okay, you got us to pay attention. But if whatever M$ is doing is really going to change the world (that’s a huge, huge thing), then I expect it to get plenty of attention anyway.
Having said that, let me add that things that change the world usually do not require eyeball-counts to do so.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
What a tease…
February 14th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Damnit, Scoble, you’re having wayyy too much fun! I can smell the excitement and passing leaping off of my LCD — I’m getting chills just thinking about it all.
Your work is what gives my passion for people, knowledge, information and inspiration validation. Thanks, Rob.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Nothing would make me happier than for Microsoft to resume paying rent on their corner of the world. They’ve been a parasite for far, far too long. I’m dubiously hopeful.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
[...] Robert Scoble got an opportunity to preview something being worked on inside of Microsoft. And apparently, he thought it was so groundbreaking, it made him cry. [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I’m suprised no-one has mentioned Sea Dragon. Google/YouTube it. If that made our blogsmith shed a tear, I completely understand.
It all makes sense after you see the TED videos demonstrations of it’s amazing capabilities. I have great hopes.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Two words: Sea Dragon
I know I shed a tear.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
[...] http://scobleizer.com/2008/02/14/microsoft-researchers-make-me-cry/ [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Sorry to steal your thunder Scoble, but I think it’s pretty obviously Photosynth related.
Proof here:
http://peteremcc.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/scobles-mystery-solved/
February 14th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Is it as cool as Bug Labs’s BUG Gadget? Or is that so last month?
February 14th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
[...] quick observation - having read Scoble here - http://scobleizer.com/2008/02/14/microsoft-researchers-make-me-cry/ and reading responses in the blogosphere: I’ve noticed a trend at Microsoft: that the coolest [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Sounds like Robert is laying the ground work to come back to Microsoft after Fast Company tanks…
February 14th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
[...] in Microsoft’s campus, Robert Scoble saw something today that he describes as “software that really changes my world”. He puts the technology in [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Microsoft products always make me want to cry..especially when XP crashes.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Peter: BugLabs will always be cool.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
If it’s anything like what they demo’d at Ted, then it will be awesome. Microsoft is starting to throw some heat. It’ll be interesting to see how many innings they can go with this stuff. Maybe they have Clemens’ trainer…
February 14th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
[...] Link: Scobles mysteriöser Blogeintrag [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
OK. I’m just guessing here, but I had a flash of inspiration where I saw Photosynth integrated with genealogy data. An app where you can search/find your ancestors and retrieve images from the past and/or an interactive, graphic timeline/family tree of your family. My vision was typing in my name and seeing a photo (and documents) of my Finnish grandfather standing in line at Ellis Island (which brought a tear to my eye when I saw it). If I’m not correct, I don’t want to know what the app is. If I am correct, I’d love to join the team of Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
[...] Scoble stunned us today with admission that Microsoft Research project that he saw behind closed doors, made him cry with joy. But, of course, he can’t tell [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
[...] Wie man Buzz kreiert - einfach mal einen Blogger (Weltliga) zum Flennen bringen [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
[...] just posted that Scoble saw something at Microsoft that made him cry, it was so incredible. They speculate it’s something competitive to AIR, some Silverlight [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 12:27 am
[...] {Forge} New Powers Posted on February 15, 2008 by Sandip Microsoft is going to release something amazing and world changing on Feb 27, writes Scoble on his blog. [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 12:54 am
[...] Des que nous en savons plus nous vous tenons informés; en attendant plus de détails sur le blog de Robert Scoble [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 1:35 am
[...] 0 comments » var AddClipsId = ‘249605F497E7B’; 秘密をばらさずに秘密について話すことはたぶん可能だ。スーパーブロガーのRobert Scobleが 自身を泣かせた素晴らしいMicrosoft製品について書いている。 [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 1:36 am
[...] Feb 27th, Microsoft Will SHOCK The Tech World! Can You Guess Why? :O :Dhttp://scobleizer.com/2008/02/14/microsoft-researchers-make-me-cry/http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/14/whats-microsoft-offering-open-source-on-february-27/http://www.istartedsomething.com/20080215/scoble-big-secret-coincide-microsoft-open-source-hero/ [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 1:57 am
[...] schlägt diese Website von Microsoft große Wellen und gibt Stoff für Diskussionen. Selbst Robert Scoble denkt, dass hier etwas großartiges entstehen wird. Er geht sogar so weit, dass ihm dieses [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 2:23 am
Christ. Tears running? This really turns my stomach, sorry. This is software, not the second coming. Feeling well?
Are we talking about Microsoft? You know, the software-maker that mostly makes mediocre software like Office Word (attempt any formatting and watch yourself FAIL)? Innovative? Come again? Wake up. The only piece of software I think is of high quality is SQL Server (solid piece of engineering that is).
Vista? Spectacular. Wow.
I look forward to this nonetheless just because anything new is worth considering. But please, get outside of your cubicle and watch the alternatives.
Best regards,
SV
February 15th, 2008 at 3:01 am
[...] Scoble: Microsoft researchers make me cry Dennis Howlett: NetSuite’s earnings on target Phil Wainewright: Microsoft in a twist over SaaSy [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 3:11 am
Robert,
I love and hate this kind of stuff. I so want to know what could get you emotional over at Microsoft. It must be something extraordinary. I hope you get the scoop and post it before big media breaks it. - Allen
February 15th, 2008 at 4:01 am
What’s new about this? Microsoft has been making people cry for decades. And many more to come.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:02 am
And… How much will it cost? How many patents involves? Do you really think it will change the world? I doubt, whatever it is, unless it involves free access to the tecnology itself too.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:43 am
[...] infatti dopo l’iniziale “Microsoft researchers make me cry” il sempre-mitico Scoble ha rettificato (Misreading Scoble on Microsoft cry), tanto che [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 4:48 am
I guess it must be Windows Vista SP1 :) It would make me cry, or maybe laugh. Dunno yet.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:49 am
[...] trataré de ver/averigurar mas sobre el nuevo proyecto que “alucina” a algunos que han podido verlo, y que creo que se presenta el dia [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 5:19 am
[...] original post talked about an impending announcement by Microsoft of ’something’ so amazing it [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Is it Silverlight and Amazon Ec2 based Web TV? :)
February 15th, 2008 at 5:42 am
[...] Scoble dropped some big hints about Microsoft’s latest technology and it’s so big that it brought a tear to his eye. [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 6:14 am
[...] In a emotional statement, the prominent blogger Robert Scoble shared his feelings on a preview of a ‘revolutionary Microsoft product’ yesterday: It’s even rarer that I see software that I know will change the world my sons live in…While watc… [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 6:30 am
[...] Microsoft plans a product announcement at the end of this month. Rumors claim it’s a new version of Photosynth. Photosynth mades “3D” touring by computer possible for almost any destination. [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Hey Robert, did a guided tour of the universe make you cry??
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/mar07/03-06TechFest2007PR.mspx
February 15th, 2008 at 7:28 am
[...] Microsoft Researchers Make Me Cry and Microsoft’s Cool New Research Building, a Photostory (Robert Scoble) [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 8:10 am
[...] 27 février Microsoft lancera un produit qui va « changer le monde » le célèbre blogueur Robert Scoble (découvreur d’Apple II, de photoshop et d’excel) a annoncé le lancement, pour le 27 [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 8:11 am
[...] de uma apresentação secreta, limitada a uns pouco representantes da mídia mundial, um dos mais renomados blogueiros da área de tecnologia fez um artigo comparando a nova tecnologia que a Microsoft vai apresentar no dia vinte e sete de [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 9:02 am
[...] even rarer that I see software that I know will change the world my sons live in” said Robert Scoble after a recent trip to Microsoft. He says that Microsoft is working on something that is life [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 9:03 am
I can almost guarantee that what ever “it” is it is the proverbial “let’s move on people…there’s nothing to see here”.
If it was I’m sure something would have leaked earler and not 2 weeks before its unveiling.
Call me when it’s over, I have to go watch my Oprah marathon that I TIVO’d.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:10 am
JDA: really? Did anyone leak about the WWW before it was out? No. Did anyone leak about ICQ before it was out? No. Did anyone leak about the iPhone was out? A little, but they didn’t get close to telling us just how cool it was.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Quote
“Note that it wasn’t a team of 100 people who did it. Two guys with a supporting cast of maybe a dozen. I’ve noticed a trend at Microsoft: that the coolest stuff is done by small teams without a ton of resources.”
This reflects how startups often work, just a small team of talented guys/gals making something incredible happen that would otherwise have been managed to death by upper management / product management / sales / marketing, etc.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:38 am
I reckon it something similar to the holographic personality called Dr. Know in the film ‘AI’. The fact it draws up so much emotion indicates that it is communicative on a human level. I reckon.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:44 am
I got it… Someone in MS collected all of your articles and made you read your own drivel. God… I would cry too.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:08 am
[...] de nombreux blogueurs. Tout est parti d’un billet publié par un célèbre blogueur hier, Robert Scole, un billet absolument dithyrambique envers un mystérieux nouveau produit de [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 10:44 am
And in the end it all boils down to execution….
February 15th, 2008 at 11:00 am
[...] Robert Scoble wrote yesterday about a new software currently under development in Microsoft, which will change the digital world. NetMeeting, Netscape and Photoshop were such software. [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 11:34 am
WEB3D.0! BABY!!
I’ve put out a few Pleas + Cry’s for Help to do this over the Past year but alas to no Avail*
If Anybody wants to do it - just give me Shout!
The Fact that MicroPOOP are already doing something similar but in typical MicroPOOP fashion will be totally lame* Unless Wong + Fay are Smoking Pot without the knowledge of their Evil Superiors!!
U can bet Google or Yahoo or NewsCorp will Pony Up HUGE $$$ for a competing platform*
+ Luckily for all of us i have it*
Crying with GLEE!!
;PPP
February 15th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Slow down there! Smells like hype to me. By a look at Mr. Curtis recent research publications (http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~ley/db/indices/a-tree/w/Wong:Curtis.html) one can have an idea of what kind of technology was demoed. Something along the lines of Microsoft Shoebox (some internal Avalon-based photo browsing interface).
February 15th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
[...] Scoble wrote the other day of technology so great that it made him weep. I know the feeling. [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I Love My Microsoft \_(^:^)_/
February 15th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
[...] Robert Scoble wrote about something Microsoft researchers Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay were working on and will introduce early next [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
[...] Robert Scoble posted about a Microsoft product that he couldn’t disclose in the works that brought tears of joy to his eyes. He wrote: Yesterday was one of those days. Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay, researchers at Microsoft, fired up their machines and showed me something that I can’t tell you about until February 27th. I’m sure you’ll read about his work in the New York Times or TechCrunch, among other places. It’s too inspiring to stay a secret for long. [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
[...] did we know? It was through Robert Scoble, who was lucky to be invited by the two researchers at Microsoft, Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay, to [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Is it MS Office for Linux? ;)
February 15th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
[...] Big MS Research announcement that makes Scoble cry coming? What is Scoble talking about here? It’s not often that I see software that really changes my world. It’s even rarer that I see [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
[...] Microsoft researchers make me cry - Scobleizer It’s not often that I see software that really changes my world. It’s even rarer that I see software that I know will change the world my sons live in. I can count those times pretty easily. The first time I saw an Apple II in 1977. When Richard Cameron showed me Apple’s Hypercard. Microsoft’s Excel. Aldus’ Pagemaker. And something called Photoshop, all in his West Valley Community College classroom. Later when I saw Marc Andreessen’s Netscape running the http://WWW. ICQ and Netmeeting which laid the ground for Skype. [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Waaaaaaaaaaaa.
I want my netscape.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 15th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Oh my God !!!!
They finally found a dildo that made the scoble’lies’r cry !!!
February 15th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
[...] Robert Scoble posted about a Microsoft product that he couldn’t disclose in the works that brought tears of joy to his eyes. He wrote: [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
[...] Robert Scoble posted about a Microsoft product that he couldn’t disclose in the works that brought tears of joy to his eyes. He wrote: [...]
February 15th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
“While watching the demo I realized the way I look at the world was about to change. While listening to Wong I noticed a tear running down my face. It’s been a long while since Microsoft did something that had an emotional impact on me like that.”
They made you read http://forum.ebaumsworld.com/archive/index.php/t-187990.html didn’t they?
February 15th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
[...] his yesterday blog post, Robert Scoble wrote: Yesterday was one of those days. Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay, researchers at [...]
February 16th, 2008 at 1:11 am
I predict it’s a web/file search interface but all visual and 3d and swooshy and zoomy and futuristic.
February 16th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Am I maybe being too optimistic in thinking that it might actually be something useful?
Or were the mentions of Netscape and Photoshop just red herrings to imply practical usability, and it’s really just a novelty prestige project like GoogleEarth, but with Space instead of Earth and Microsoft instead of Google?
February 16th, 2008 at 1:34 am
[...] 27… este es el día . Y lo dice un peso pesado en la blogosfera como Scoble (Scobleizer).. más en el próximo [...]
February 16th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Hey Scoble… What about this PAGE ?
http://www.microsoft.com/virtualevents/sneakpeek/
27 feb…. 2008 family coming … are you kidding ?
February 16th, 2008 at 1:59 am
[...] Des que nous en savons plus nous vous tenons informés; en attendant plus de détails sur le blog de Robert Scoble [...]
February 16th, 2008 at 2:29 am
For those wishing for the answer here, I spoil the surprise on my blog.. Hint, it rhymes with FOTOsynth..
http://jason-schultz.com/blog/?p=4
February 16th, 2008 at 11:40 am
[...] Minä nimittäin vakaasti uskon, että tulossa ei ole mitään, mikä liikuttaisi juuri ketään, saati toimittajia. 27. päivä ei ole luvassa mitään ihmeellistä. Joku elegantti pikku kilke - korkeintaan. Sellainen jota kukaan ei olisi noteerannut, ellei Scoble olisi vetistellyt. [...]
February 16th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
[...] certain il s’agirait de la sortie d’un nouveau logiciel. Dans un billet du 14 février , un blogeur américain déclare : « en regardant la démo, je me suis rendu compte [...]
February 16th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft!!!
Be Young Again!!!
Daniel
February 16th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
WOW, the stupidity of MS haters never ceases to surprise me. Sorry lotus-eaters MS is going to spank the crap out of johnny’s-come-lately like Google. Google’s days are numbered - Jeez, they are trying to shovel bastard office software down everyone’s throat! Enough with Goo-suck-my-*-gle.
February 16th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
[...] Februari 2008 oleh Budi Rahardjo Iseng-iseng (berhadiah) baca sebuah tulisan di blog Scobelizer. Dia bercerita tentang sebuah karya yang dikembangkan oleh dua orang peneliti di Microsoft yang [...]
February 17th, 2008 at 3:58 am
[...] son billet du 14 février Robert Scoble s’est réellement enflammé pour le logiciel qui lui a été présenté par ses [...]
February 17th, 2008 at 11:09 am
i love microsoft
i love research
and i love crying for microsoft like i am singing under the rain !!!
February 17th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
[...] Scoble, Tech — Lorenzo E. Danielsson @ 23:21 So Microsoft are up to something that makes Robert Scoble cry. Apart from thinking that the guy must be mentally out-of-balance, I’m sure Microsoft [...]
February 17th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
[...] mondo, ma potrebbe essere qualcosa che cambierà la nostra intera esistenza. Il tutto parte da un misterioso post di Robert Scoble nel quale rivela di aver avuto accesso ad uno strepitoso progetto che sarà [...]
February 17th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
[...] Robert Scoble had a cry over a demo two developers over at Microsoft Research gave him, but because we’re normal people and aren’t special enough, we have to wait until February 27. “Yesterday was one of those days. Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay, researchers at Microsoft, fired up their machines and showed me something that I can’t tell you about until February 27th. I’m sure you’ll read about his work in the New York Times or TechCrunch, among other places. It’s too inspiring to stay a secret for long. [...]
February 17th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
[...] הראשונה קרתה בעקבות הפוסט הזה של Scoble אחרי ביקור שלו ב-Microsoft Research. הוא מתאר שהוא ראה [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 1:47 am
[...] der etwas Neues sieht. Etwas, das nur ganz wenige zuvor gesehen haben. Was macht er? Er beginnt zu weinen. So geschehen, als Robert Scoble scheinbar eine Demo eines neuen Dienstes von Microsoft [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 1:54 am
[...] if it wasn’t enough that Scoble’s post sparked wide-spread debate on the net a couple of days ago, isn’t it funny how that can in [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 6:09 am
[...] Research fait pleurer Bob Scobble Publié février 18, 2008 Non classé Robert Scobble, ancien Microsoftee, membre éminent de la communauté Microsoft sur le web, bloggeur influent et [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Windows Vista(R) made my Cry!!
Because it was worse that i thought!!
February 18th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
[...] c’est la date à laquelle Microsoft dévoilera sa dernière création qui, selon un bloggueur Robert Scoble, changera nos vies , il a même dit qu’il a pleuré en assistant à sa démonstration [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
[...] of a world leader. In the Internet, we can have major spikes from such inane moments as Scoble shedding tears of delight over new Microsoft secret software. And the whole thing is wired together. That one tear on [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
[...] on January 27 at the TED Conference in Monterey, California. Our guess is that this is what Robert Scoble was talking about last week when he said he saw a new Microsoft project that brought him to [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
[...] on January 27 at the TED Conference in Monterey, California. Our guess is that this is what Robert Scoble was talking about last week when he said he saw a new Microsoft project that brought him to [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
WorldWide Telescope
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/18/microsoft-to-announce-worldwide-telescope-on-january-27/
February 18th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
[...] wrote on Valentine’s day that Microsoft researchers make me cry “….It’s not often that I see software that really changes my world. It’s even rarer [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
[...] rumeurs vont bon train depuis que Robert Scoble a avoué avoir été ému aux larmes suite à la découverte d’un projet que Microsoft serait sur le point de dévoiler. La [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
[...] is reporting that the project at Microsoft that makes Robert Scoble cry is indeed WorldWide Telescope, an application for viewing the cosmos. I have received [...]